Description of the Prior Art
The high cost of labor and material have made use of genuine brick, stone and tile in construction prohibitively expensive.
As a result relatively inexpensive polymers and concrete have become popular in the manufacture of artificial brick, stone and tile. Artificial brick surfaces are relatively easy to produce. However the production of aesthetically appealing artificial stone is more difficult. Specifically, replicating the texture resembling real stone and the color is often poor.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,310,370 shows a process for producing decoratiave articles comprising the steps of placing into mutual contact and laminating a hardenable decorative material layer and an expansion-contraction deformable sheet provided with regions susceptible to expansion-contraction deformation and regions not susceptible to deformation; causing the deformable sheet to undergo deformation under pressure to impart a pattern of unevennesses to the decorative material layer in contact with the sheet; and causing the hardenable decorative material layer to fully harden. The sheet deformed under pressure imparts a pattern of surface unevenness corresponding to the two kinds of regions to the decorative material layer. The degree or surface unevenness can be controlled by adjusting the pressure. Colored patterns corresponding to the unevennesses can also be formed.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,836,619 describes a method of forming an artificial stone comprising the steps of providing a flexible mold; pouring a curable mixture of polyester plastic and catalyst in the mold to form a polyester plastic body having a configured surface; scraping off excess of the curable mixture by applying sufficient pressure to depress the exdges of the mold and form a raised lip on the plastic body; curing the mixture; removing the plastic body from the mold; spraying the configured surface with a liquid color layer and drying; spraying the color layer with a curable, transparent, liquid coat and curing said coat until the outer surface is gelled; spraying a thin layer of sand on the outer surface of said transparent coat, and curing the transparent coat, thereby bonding the sand layer to the transparent coat layer.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,349,588 teaches a method for producing simulated brick, tile wall or floor using cement, water-based adhesive and water insoluble powdered pigment. The mixture is applied and then partially set. Scoring indentations are made to remove cement. After being completely set, mortar is placed in the indentations as a grout and allowed to set. The final step is a clear water-resistant coating on the entire surface.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,126,727 shows a resinous polymer sheet material having selective, decorative effects comprising a first layer of a resinous polymer composition; a pattern or design printed on and adhered to the surface of the first layer of resinous polymer composition and having relatively dark colored printed portions and relatively light colored printed portions. A second layer of a resinous polymer composition is applied on and adhered to the printed pattern or design and to the first layer of resinous polymer composition. The second layer of resinous polymer composition includes a layer of relatively small, flat, decorative chips or flakes comprising a very thin layer of translucent or transparent platelets provided with coating. Light wave interference and color absorptive effects are created as light waves strike and reflect from the second layer of resinous polymer composition whereby the decorative chips or flakes located over the relatively dark colored printed portions are discernible from eye-level or a distance of about five feet whereas those decorative chips or flakes located over the relatively light colored printed portions are indiscernible from eye-level or a distance of about five feet.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,105,816 describes a decorative relief finished surface formed to a substrate by applying an undercoat material to a predetermained thickness and forming an uneven pattern with a rolling device having a plurality of convex parts of curved continued, disconnected to perforated line shape. Then, the top portions of the projections of the partially hardened surface which extend beyond a predetermined height are pressed with a pressing roll such that the projections are uniformly flattened to a predetermained thickness while the rest of the convex parts are left unflattened.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,882,218 shows embossed decorative patterns and decorative laminates, particularly textured film finished structural elements and the method of manufacture wherein a resilient material such as a wadding sheet or pad sheet is interposed between the surface film and the substrate.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,152,002 describes a process of making elastomeric flooring of varigated color comprising the steps of coating a sheet of backing material with a liquid polyvinyl chloride plastisol, delivering a charge of solid unheated plastic granules of polyvinyl chloride compound and different colors to the coated backing sheet, spreading the granules in a layer of substantially uniform thickness in the liquid plastisol, partially curing the plastisol to fix the position of the granules on the backing sheet and then molding the components into a product of the desired surface texture.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,012,285 teaches a process of producing an elastomeric covering for floors, walls and the like comprising the steps of mixing a plurality of moldable vinyl elastomers of different shades of the same base color, calendering the mixture to form a solid mottled sheet of the selected colors, heating the calendered elastomeric sheet to molding temperature, molding the overall surface area of the sheet by applying a mold having a plurality of scattered low protuberances of irregular outline and of varying size, depth, configuration and distribution, removing the mold from the molded sheet, coating the molded surface of the elastomeric sheet with a paint of a color contrasting with the base color and then removing the colored paint immediately to expose plane surface areas of the molded elastomeric sheet while leaving the depressed areas of the cavities thereof permanently coated with the contrasting colored paint.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,577,241 shows a method of producing a face configuration of variable pattern which comprises impressing in the face of deformable material a textured surface element having a definite face pattern to thereby provide the deformable material with a face presenting a complete pattern complemental to the pattern of the element and then impressing on the deformable material face to a less depth a textured surface element in random relation to the complemental pattern to randomly modify the pattern of said material face while maintaining the general texture resulting from the first impression.
Additional examples of the prior art are found in U.S. Pat. No. 2,955,324; U.S. Pat. No. 3,839,514 and U.S. Pat. No. 3,848,043.